The present invention relates generally to syringe interfaces, syringe adapters and injectors and, more particularly, to syringe interfaces, syringe adapters and injectors for use in injection of a fluid into a patient.
Injector-actuated syringes and powered injectors are used in medical procedures such as angiography, computed tomography, ultrasound and NMR/MRI. U.S. Pat. No. 4,006,736, for example, discloses an injector and syringe for injecting fluid into the vascular system of a human being or an animal. Typically, such injectors comprise drive members such as pistons that connect to a syringe plunger. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,980, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, discloses an angiographic injector and syringe wherein the drive member of the injector can be connected to, or disconnected from, the syringe plunger at any point along the travel path of the plunger via a releasable mechanism. A front-loading syringe and injector system is also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,858, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The front-loading injector of U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,858 includes a bayonet syringe mounting mechanism for securing the syringe to the front wall of the injector. In that regard, the syringe of U.S. Pat. No. 5,383,858 includes two generally opposed mounting flanges on a rearward end of the syringe which cooperate with corresponding retaining flanges on the injector thereof to form a bayonet connection.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,873,861 discloses another front-loading, bayonet-type syringe mounting mechanism in which multiple pairs or sets of syringe mounting flanges cooperate with corresponding pairs of injector retaining flanges to mount a syringe upon an injector. In one embodiment, a first pair of mounting flanges are offset from at least a second pair of mounting flanges. For example, the first pair of mounting flanges can be offset from the second pair of mounting flanges by approximately 90°. Use of multiple pairs of mounting flanges and, particularly offset pairs of mounting flanges, can, for example, assist in distributing forces experienced by a syringe during an injection procedure. Such flange configurations can thereby allow use of certain syringe manufacturing materials at higher pressures than previously attainable or the use of relatively low-strength materials not otherwise usable with high pressure-syringe and injector designs without the use of a pressure jacket.
Other types of mounting mechanisms for front-loading syringes are disclosed in PCT Publication No. WO 01/37903 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,652,489, each assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
In general, the use of specifically designed mounting mechanisms on front-loading injectors prevents the use of syringes of various other types (that is, syringes having a mounting mechanism not directly compatible with the syringe interface/retaining mechanism of the front-loading injector) with the front-loading injectors. Syringe adapters attachable to front-loading injectors are sometimes used to allow the use of such syringes with front-loading injectors.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,653 discloses several adapters designed to allow the use of various syringes with a front-loading injector. Another adapter for allowing use of various syringes with a front-loading injector is disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 09-122234. Other adapters are disclosed, for example, in PCT Publication No. WO 01/08727 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/633,299, filed on Aug. 8, 2000, each assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Although a number of syringe interfaces and adapters are currently available, it remains desirable to develop improved syringe interfaces and adapters for use with syringes of various types.